Renewable pump piston



Patented Sept. 4, 1951 John T. Phipps, Hunting ton Park, Calif., assignor,

by mesne assignments, of one-third to himself, one-third to William F. Sturdivant, and onethird to Carl E. Phipps Application June 2, 1945, Serial No. 597,335 I 3 Claims This invention relates to pumps, and particularly pertains to a renewable pump piston.

In the use of reciprocating pumps, such for eX- ample as the sludge pumps used for pumping drilling mud in oil well drilling operations, the fluid being pumped is of high specific gravity and carries suspended solids which are gritty and abrasive. This condition also prevails in reciprocating oil well pumps in which the crude oil carries producing sand. In both of these instances it is diflicult to provide a pump piston having rubber or deformable packing rings which will withstand the abrasion and maintain a pump seal efiiciently for a period of time, which makes the pump operation economical. When packing rings used in oil well operations are examined it is found that they have worn away excessively along the marginal edges adjacent to the lips or flanges by which they are held. This appears to be the to the fact that since the packing rings are made of deformable mater al their mar'dnal edges are not shaped and supported in a manner to alow a free flow of the deformable material to produce a seal without subjecting the ring to excessive abrasion.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a piston upon which one or more packing rngs of deformable material may be mounted, said piston having a body portion to receive the rings, contiguous faces of the body portion and the rings being shaped to protect the rings and to afford maximum flexibility of the packing rings when acted upon by a compressed fluid and without subjecting the rings to excessive abrasive action.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a piston structure in which the piston body may be mounted upon a piston rod, conveniently and easily removed therefrom, and upon which piston body -a plurality of packing rings and spacing elements may be detachably secured so that parts of the piston may be easily replaced.

It is a further object of the invention to provide means for easily withdrawing the various parts of the piston structure from their assembled positions.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a piston body adapted to be mounted upon a piston rod and having a central tubular section at one end of which an enlarged annular flange occurs, the outer surface of said body being formed in sections of different diameters whereby piston rings and spacing elements therefor may be assembled upon the body and positively 2 held by a final cap and fastening members upon the piston rod. 1

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a view in: central longitudinal section showing the tapered end of a piston rod with the piston structure in place thereon.

' Fig. 2 is a view in section showing one of the piston rings dissociated from the piston structure.

Fig. 3 is aview in end elevation showing the piston body with the ringsand associated elements removed therefrom, as viewed in the direction of the arrow a in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a View in section and elevation showing the pulling device for the piston body.

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation showing a tool for removing the spacing ring and the packing cap of the piston ring. v

Referring more particularly to the drawing, It) indicates a pump'piston rod. At the end of this piston rod is ata ered length of sha t H which terminates in a threaded cylindrical length [2. This receives lock nuts I3. Mounted u on the tapered end H of the piston is a piston body M. This is formed with a central tapered bore l5 which corresponds in taper with that of the piston rod section II so that the piston body may be wedged onto the piston rod and ,hed tightly by the nuts l3. At the end of the piston body M which is contiguous to the main length of the piston rod an annular flange I6 is formed. This flange has an outer circumference which is slightly less in diameter than the bore of a pump cylinder within which the piston reciprocates. This outer circumference is indicated at H. The transverse face of the flange l6 which is presented toward the outer end of the piston rod is formed with a plurality .of corrugations l8, the inner ends 'of which terminate with an annular rib I9 which extends circumferentially of the flange l6 and is spaced from a center hub 20 of the piston body. The corrugations, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing, are formed by faces [8 and [8 which are fiat and are oppositely tapered. The faces are separated along radial lines 2| and 22. The radial lines or edges 22 are on different angles from the lines 2 I although they both emanate from the outer circumferential edge of the rib l9. Due to this arrangement the corrugations have a scalloped perimeter, as indicated by the numerals 23 and 23". The faces of these corrugations are complementary to the faces l8 and I8.-

The annular rib [9 which circumscribes the hub 20 of the piston body forms an annular channel 24. The corrugated faces, represented generally at I 8, are designed to form a seat for complementary corrugated faces on a packing ring 25. The end face of the ring resting against the corrugated surface I9 is also formed with an annular rib 26v which fits. into the annular. groove 24 on the pistonbody I4; and thus-"1 anchors thering in position around the large diameter 28* of the tubular portion 20. The large diameter 28* fits within a bore 21 formed through the packing ring 25, and the annular rib I 9 will act't'o' hold the central portion of the packing ring 25.. firmly in its seated position, so that it-wilhnotpull orjtear out. The packing ring 25iis.preferably formed of rubber and canvas. As shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, canvas webbing 28 extends from within the annular rib 26 of the ring-to an--upper-inclined face 29. Thus, the opposite ended the canvas lie parallel to thesaxis of the ring and the intermediate portion .lies obliquely. thereto... The portion of the packing ring within which the corrugated face I8' is formed isindicatedat' 30' as comprising a desired grade of'rubbenwhich is substantially triangular in section ..and.continres at l.30"t'o completearubber .outer surfacefor the packing ring. A suitablebacking; section .31 "made of..rubb e r andifa'bric c mpletesthering structure.v The endfaceof this backing section isinclined, as indicatedat 32. Thus, the faces ZB and 32.are disposed atequal op ositeangles to each other vandiform a V'-shape.d1end facefor the ring. By reference to Fig.1 of'thedrawingit. will be seen that two of -the packingrings 25.ar.e .provided, and. that they are. disposed."with their corrugated faces I yoppositely. These faces are therefore presented'toward the opposite ends-of the pistons; The .Vashaped' transverse. faces rep.- resented bythe surfaces 29"and'32"ar.e contiguous to each other and fitwithin corresponding v -shaped grooves 33" of" av center. support. and spacer 34i, The tubular portion?!) of'the piston body. is formed" with areduced diameter 2.0 which extends through bore 3550f 'thespacing ring 34; Attention is directed to the factth'at'a face 36 on th'egspacingring abutsagainsta transverse l4 shoulder 13"! atithe .end of "the cylindrical portion 29?;and that;a face 38" on the. spacing ring. 34 isrengaged by an .endface 39 Of a packing ring cap-401 The packing ring cap has a.tubular portion 44' which fits over the ,cylindrical'portion 20 of" the body'member. At the outer. end. of the'cap- 40 a flange 41. is provided, which isof the same dimensions and configuration as. the flange [610p the -body'mernber. Thus, this 'flange i S'fDImGd. with an inwardly presented corrugated i face 18, aspreviously described, and engagesthe outermost packingring'zfii The end ofthe packring-ring cap 40 is formed .with a reduced, bore flfthrough which the threaded portion l 2 of the piston rod-f extends. A" packing. washer. 43' is interposedj between the end.of'the tubular. portion 2J1" and" the" bore of the piston ring cap which receives it. Attention is directed to the fact that the Width f the spacingring 34, as measured between its.fac.es"36 and--3'Lis-such as to inu e that when1its face-36"abutsagainst the shoulder 31 of'the piston.body:member. M the inner packing ring 25fwillbe-firmly held .without being unduly expanded and deformed. It will be. seenthat the'face" 39 formed upon the. endpfa cylindrical extension 44 of 'thecap' 40, and within which extension the portion zll of thepis'ton body'telescopes- It'isalso. provided that the length ofth'e nortion 44 of the packing ring cap 40"is such as to insure that when its face 39 abuts against the face 38 of the ring 34 the outer packing ring 25 will be firmly gripped without being objectionably deformed. The entire structure is then held with its parts in a rigid immovable relation to each other while being at the same time held upon the tapered section H of thQcPiStOIIQIOd IUQ. 'I'heholding action is created by the lock nuts l3. It will be seen that the lock nuts i3 may be tightened as desired to firmly wedge the piston body M on the tapered rod section II, but that regardless of the holdingpressure exerted by the nuts the gripping pressure exerted against the packing rings.'25.will be constant. It should also be pointedoutthatdue to the sectional construction of the packing rings 25 and their sectional contour the rings are limited against radial expansion-and thus will not be forced outwardly against the piston walls beyond .a predetermined amount.

In designing the rings it is desirable that the V shaped base-portion of each ring; as represented by the faces -2'9'-and=3iJ, shall have an overalloutside diameter agreeing substantially with the-outside diameterof-the supportand spacing ring 34, andthat the contiguous shoulders 36} 3'1, 33' and 33-ofthemetal parts'wih be so designed as to create' suflicient pressure to force thescalloped' edges of therubber portionof the packing rings 25-outwardly-againstthe wall of-a cylinder and slightly beyond the-outercircumferential faces I? of the flanges '56 and 4|.

In orderto remove the body portion l4 of the piston from-its wedged 'position upon the tapered endll of the'piston rod' a-special puller is-desir able, as shown in-Fig. 4 of the drawing. This puller" includes a crosshead 45 formed with a central threaded bore 46. This bore-receives a pressure screw 41 which is designed to abut against the end of'the threaded portion l2 of'the piston -rod: The crosshead carries a plate 48 fittedwith apairof pulling r0ds'49. These rods are threaded at" the outer ends and are fitted with'nuts 5i). Theinner ends ofthe rodsare inturned to' form a finger'fil. The fingers 51 may seat within recesses 52 formed in the outer circumference of the portion 20 of the piston body 14; Thus, When the fingers 5| engage therecesses-and'the end-of the pressure screw 41 enages the end ofthe piston-rod, thepressure screw may be'man'ipulated to pull the piston body off of the rod. 'Prior to-this operation it may benecessary to forcibly pull the spacing andsupportingring34-from its'seated'position. In order toaccomplish this the spacing ring is formed with a threaded bore 53 which receives the threaded end 5'4 of a pull-rod- 55. The opposite end'of the rod'is here shown as'fi'tted with a ringshaped handle 56. The same puller may be used to'pull the packing ring cap 40' from the piston body I4=since it' is formed with athrea'ded opening 57 to receive'the threaded-end-54 ofthe rod- 55- Attention is directed to. the fact. that each a theiflanges l6 and 41 are formed-along their corrugated faces! 8 with anannular. groove 58 which extends entirely around" th flange and is here;

Shown as being substantially semicircular; in cross sectioni Extending; through the flanges with'a-xes parallel' to-the longitudinal axis of the piston rod are a plurality of. perforations 5B" which communicate with. the grooves 58. The perforations 58"allow pressure fluid to enter the grooves. 58and to exert pressure against the portions 30" of 'thjepacking rings, which tend'to exp nd the relatively soft corrugated portion of the packing rings and to hold them against the cylinder wall. In the event that excessive fluid pressure is exerted it is obvious that the fluid would be forced outwardly and longitudinally between the corrugated faces of the flanges and the packing rings and back into the end of the cylinder from which they originally came. This produces an action entirely different from that in which fluid is conducted into a central chamber of a piston ring and expands the ring without any opportunity for excess fluid to be relieved.

In operation of the present invention the structure is assembled as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing and is held in assembled position by the lock nuts l3. As previously stated, the longitudinal dimensions of the various rigid elements, including the body member I4, the spacing ring 34, and the packing ring cap 40, are selected to insure that the packing ring 25 will be firmly gripped, and that the portion 30' of each ring will be deformed slightly so that it will extend outwardly beyond the circumferential shoulders I! of the flanges l6 and 4!. As the piston reciprocates pressure will be exerted against the overhanging end portions of the faces l8 and l8 of the corrugated surfaces 18. Thus, a compression action will be created along the feathered edges 23 and 23' of the rings to force them outwardlv against the s de wall of a pump cylinder to form a fluid seal therewith. This seal will be created by a yiedable corru ated area of the piston rin s, which insures that the piston may operate for a long period of time without objectionable wear or abrasion. In fact, the presence of this corrugated surface at the end of the rin has produced a n w and unexpected result, since in actual well operat ons the pa kinrl rings have a life many times that of conventional rubber rin s which are of unif m thickn ss and ha e op osite end faces parallel to each other. Th s a ears to be for the reason that the e tire circumference of a conv ntiona rubber ump ring is evnanded against he s de wall of a piston, thus increas ng the contact area and f iction between the rin and the c linder all. while in the p esent instance a re ati e y sma l feather d ed e of the ring contacts the c lind r all. hich wall surface is indicated by the do ted line A in Fig. 1. As exnlained previously. reciprocation of the p ston will produce a ternat v fluid pressure action through the openings 58' and the circumferential grooves 58. This action will tend to increase the s alin ressure of the d forma le port o 3!! of the packing rings. When it is desired to remove the piston the packing ring can 40 is withdrawn after the lock nuts l3 are removed. This may require the use of the pul rod 45. If so. the threaded end 54 of the rod 55 is screwed into the opening 51, after which the packing cap may be pulled away from its seat. The spacing ring 34 is then removed in the same manner. It will be recognized that new rings may be easily placed upon the body member I4 after having thus been removed. In the event that the body member I4 is to be removed the pull rods 49 are placed with their fingers 5| in the recesses 52, after which they pass through clearance openings in the crosshead 45 and openings in the plate 48. The nuts 50 are suitably tightened and the pressure screw 41 is adjusted to abut against the end of the piston rod. As the screw 41 is tightened it will pull the piston body l4 from its seated position upon the tapered portion l I of the piston rod I0.

It will thus be seen that the piston structure here disclosed embodies the use of simple parts, including deformable piston rings, all of which may be readily assembled upon a piston rod and held by nuts carried by the rod, and which parts may be easily dismantled when desired.

It will be further recognized that due to the peculiar corrugated formation of the end faces of the piston rings against which pressure is applied, and the complementary seats provided therefor, a tight fluid seal is obtained with minimum wear due to friction or abrasion.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention as now known to me, it will be understood that various changes may be made in combination, construction and arrangement of parts by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a piston rod having a longitudinally tapered end section terminating in a cylindrical threaded section upon which a nut may be placed, a piston having a body portion comprising a central tubular section formed with a central tapered bore. the outer surface of said tubular section comprising a cylindrical portion of relatively large diameter and a cylindrical portion of smaller diameter whereby an intermediate annular shoulder is formed, an enlarged disc-shaped flange formed upon the section of larger diameter and upon the opposite end thereof from said shoulder, an annular groove formed in the inner face of said flange, an outwardly flaring corrugated face upon said flange and extending circumferentiallv thereof, a deformable annular packing ring adapted to fit over the portion of the tubular member of large diameter and having one end face conformin in configuration with the groove and corruga ions on the flange and against which said ring rests, oppositely inclined faces at the opposite end of said packing ring, a rigid removable spacing and su porting ring detachablv mounted upon the length of the piston body of smaller diameter and having a face resting against the shouder on the tubular bod a groove in the face of said ring conforming with and. receiving the inclined faces of the packing ring. a complementary groove formed upon the opposite side of the spacing and supporting ring, a deformable packing ring having an end with inclined faces conforming with said groove and an opposite end with an annular bead and an inclined corrugated surface, a packing ring cap formed with a tubular portion extending through said last named packing ring and partially over the end portion of the reduced tubular section of the piston body, and an annular disc-like flange forming a part of said annular packing ring cap and resting against the corrugated end face of said second named piston ring, the tubular portion of said packing ring cap abutting against a face on the spacing ring providing a positive stop therefor, said packing ring cap being engaged by a nut on the piston rod to hold the entire assembled structure in a mounted position upon the piston rod.

2. A pump piston adapted to be mounted upon a piston rod, said piston comprising a body member having a central tubular section, a tapered bore formed centrally thereof to receive the tapered end of a piston rod, the outer circumference of said tubular section being formed with a length of relatively large diameter and a length of reduced diameter, an annular flange formed atzt e 'endl oflthe length' of large diameter and being; dispos'ed in 'a plaii'e normal thereto; the di-- ameter of said flange approximating the: diameter of: a :cylinder within which the piston is designed-"to reciprocate, a -serie of radial corrugations formed=on the-inner face of said flange and defined by oppositely inclined plane faces, the c'ontiguous edges ofWhich faces lie in planes radial to the axis of the piston and tapering outwardly'toward the outer face of the flange, an annular'groove formed in the'inner face of said flange and at the base of said'corrugations, a deformable'-piston :ringadapted to circumscribe the- 'largeportion of the body member and being of an outside: diameter substantially agreeing with'the diameter of the annular flange, the end of'tlie-Ting'abutting against the flange having a' contour conforming to the corrugations and an nular groove, the opposite end of said piston-ring being defined by'two annular surfaces converging outwardly toward each other, aspacing ring mounted upon the portion'of the body member of reduced diameter and designed to restagainst theshoulder of the portion of larger diameter, the opposite faces of said ring being formed with V-shaped grooves agreeing in configuration with the" inclined faces of packing rings abutting thereagainst, the outer diameter of said spacing ringagreeing-substantially indiameter with the outer-diameterof the annular flange on the body member, a deformable packing ring formed with an angular face conforming to the V-shaped groove of the spacing ring and having a central bore agreeing in diameter With that of the first named pack-ingring,- a packing ring cap having a cylindrical extension telescoping over the portion ofreduced diameter of the body member to abut against the spacing ring and having an outside diameter agreeing with the bore of the second named spacing ring and-into which said member extends; anann-ular flange at the outer edge of said cap agreeing in diameter-With the annular flange'onthe body memberand having a corrugated faceand annular groove agreeing in configuration with similar parts on the annular flange of thebodymember and with which the contiguous end of the second packing ring conforms, said cap adapted to be engaged by a nutcarried by apiston rod and acting in combination with the body member to positively hold thespacing ring in an intermediate position and to-grip the packing rings whereby. they will be 8 held in positionwith: the circumference. of the rings adjacent to the corrugations being. do formed and enlarged-to a diameter greatertlian the diameters of the annular flangesand the spacing .ring.

3, A deformable piston ring of the character described having concentric outer and inner walls, one end face of the ring being formed witha plurality of corrugations defined by'0-ppositely. extending plane faces, the contiguousedgesof which are radial with the axis of thering, said end face also having an annular protruding-rib circumscribing the bore of. the piston ring,.the opposite end face of the ring being defined by complementary .circumferentiallyl extending planesurfaces convergingoutwardly to a median line at the center. of the ring section, aidming beingformed of deformable material having fabricreinforcement which extends axially of the annular rib-and-then diagonally and outwardly. to a point contiguous to the outer circumference of the ring and then parallel tothe said circume ference, the portion ofthe ring between said-fabric reinforcement and the corrugated end-face of {the ring being devoid of reinforcing material Wherebyit may deform readily under compressionofthering.

JOHN T. PEEP-PS.-

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